It's Official

"Hi Mom," I said when she picked up the phone.  It was Tuesday, and I was calling to check on her October plans.

"Hi, honey," she replied.  "Is everything okay?"

"Yes," I said.  I guess I don't usually call during the week.  "I was just wondering if you have plans in October, like the weekend of the 3rd?"

"Why would I have plans then?  What's happening the 3rd of October?"  She sounded really confused, and I didn't blame her.

"Well, maybe our wedding."

"I'm sorry, your what?  Because I thought you said 'our wedding,' but October 3rd is barely over three months away!" my mom exclaimed.

"I did say our wedding," I replied calmly.  I had expected this reaction.

"This October 3rd?"  When I confirmed, she continued, "Olivia, you know if you're pregnant, you can tell me."

"Mom!" I snapped.  "I'm not pregnant.  We just want a fall wedding and we don't want a long engagement, and October 3rd happens to be what's available at the venue we're going to look at."  I stopped, realizing that I had just let slip that we wanted to get married here.  But my mom didn't even bat an eye at that.

"Well, as far as I know, we don't have any plans that weekend, so if getting married that soon is what you really want, then we'll keep the date open.  I'll also plan to keep the week before open, if you'd like us to come out and help with last minute things."

I was surprised.  She'd gone from accusing me (again) of being pregnant to offering to come out to help.  "Thank you," I said.  "We don't have anything set in stone, but since it's so soon we wanted to make sure the important people would be able to make it before we decided anything for sure."

"Well, we appreciate that.  You know, honey, we are so happy for you, and we're looking forward to spending some more time with Brody when you guys come visit."  I thanked her and we chatted for a few more minutes before we hung up.

I called Lynn next.  After my parents, she was the one who would make or break this.  She greeted me cheerfully when she answered the phone.  I greeted her in return, and then said, "So, have you made any progress at talking your doctor into letting you come out to visit this fall?"

"She is a tough one to crack," Lynn grumbled, "but I'm getting there.  She's refusing to say anything either way, but at my appointment yesterday she said, 'if you keep this up, we can definitely talk about your trip this fall.'  So that seems promising."

"That does seem promising," I agreed.  "I'm asking because Brody and I want to get married this fall and--"

"This fall?" she interrupted.  "Like, the fall that is a mere couple of months away?"

"That very same one," I responded drily.  We had been engaged for less than a week and I was already sick and tired of defending our potential choice to get married rather quickly.

"Here, or there?" she asked.

"Here, in Colorado," I replied nervously.

"Wow," she replied.  She didn't say anything for a couple seconds, then she said, "Well, if you're getting married out there this fall, I'll be taking a trip whether my doctor okays it or not!"

"But--"

"No."  She silenced me with her quick response.  "But nothing.  If you're getting married, I will be there.  That's all there is to it.  I mean, it's not like I'll be busy working or anything."

"I don't want to do it this fall if there's even a chance you won't be able to make it," I insisted.  "It's so important to me that you're there that I will plan my wedding around when you can get here."

"I love you, Liv.  I want you to have the wedding you want, when you want it.  I'm confident that I'll be able to make it out there.  Did you have a date in mind?"

"October 3rd, maybe," I replied.

"I'll write it down.  Keep me posted!"

When I hung up, I was relieved.  I called Lauren next and she wasn't even surprised.  I confirmed the place for Thursday's happy hour with her, and asked if she'd seen much of Kinsley lately.  Kinsley had been spending so much time with Damien that we didn't see nearly as much of her as we used to.  "Not really," Lauren said.  "I mean, she was at brunch last weekend, but the last time I saw her before that was when you both came over two weeks ago.  She told me she was coming to happy hour though."

"Well that's good, I miss her," I replied.

Brody came home while I was still on the phone with Lauren.  He leaned over the back of the couch and kissed the top of my head before heading upstairs to change.  When Lauren and I hung up, I wandered into the kitchen and found the take out he'd brought home for dinner.  I grabbed plates and napkins and had everything ready by the time Brody came back downstairs in a pair of shorts and an old t-shirt.  "Thank you," he said, surveying the table where dinner was arranged neatly.  "I was going to do it when I got back down."

"Now you don't have to," I replied.  He pulled me to him for a hug and then kissed me.  After our kiss, I leaned back against his chest, pressing my face into his shirt and breathing in the faint, lingering smell of his cologne.  He stroked my hair and I stayed there for several seconds before I pulled away and smiled up at him.  "Thanks for picking up dinner."

"You're welcome," he replied as we sat down.  "How did your phone calls go?"

"Good!  Everyone is on board, though my mom was a bit reluctant."

"I'm not surprised.  Mine were good too.  Jen is freaking out but she'll get over it.  My mom told me to just tell her when and where.  Jack and Alex both said to just let them know what we need from them.  So I guess we're good."

"I guess we are," I agreed.  Now that the phone calls were over, I was feeling significantly less overwhelmed with the process.  After we ate, Brody and I enjoyed a quiet night of cuddling on the couch and watching a movie.

Kinsley ended up bailing from Thursday's happy hour.  We texted her, trying to make plans for Saturday, but she reported back that she already had plans with Damien's family.  She did agree to join us for our weekly Monday night dinner.  "We need an intervention, I think," Lauren said quietly to me.  I agreed, and we spent a few minutes strategizing how to tell Kinsley we missed her and wanted to see her more without making her feel bad.

Sunday was here before I knew it, and Brody and I left in the late morning to get to the potential venue by our appointment time.  I was nervous as we drove, and I wasn't quite sure why.  I had, over the course of the past few days, gotten more and more comfortable with the idea of getting married in 3 months.  Or rather, of planning a wedding in 3 months.  The getting married part was never a question.  Maybe I was worried that now that I was convinced that this was a good idea, it wouldn't work out and we'd have to figure something else out.  I kind of hated planning things.

Even with my nerves, the nearly two hour drive went quickly.  From the front, the building was fairly nondescript.  My high hopes deflated a little bit, and sensing this, Brody urged me to give it a chance.  "I will," I promised.

We walked in the door and were barely acknowledged by a bored looking hostess, which did nothing to increase my confidence.  "We have an appointment with Leigh," I informed her.  She blinked placidly at me before turning and picking up the phone behind her.  She didn't say a word to me, just spoke quietly into the phone. I wrinkled my nose at her back and Brody chuckled softly.

When she turned around, she said, "She'll be right out," and then went back to staring into space.

"Thanks," I muttered sarcastically, taking a few steps away.  Brody slid his arm around my shoulders and I relaxed slightly.

We were waiting for less than two minutes when a tall brunette strode towards us.  "Hi," she said warmly.  "Olivia?  I'm Leigh."  I nodded and took her outstretched hand.  Then she turned to Brody.  "I take it that makes you Brody?"

"Wait, who's Brody?" he asked, feigning confusion.  I rolled my eyes and shook my head as he and Leigh both laughed.  "Sorry, that was a terrible joke.  Yes, I'm Brody, nice to meet you."  He kissed me on the cheek and I laughed a little too, finally loosening up a bit.

"Come on this way," she said, motioning for us to follow her.  As we walked, she said, "This is the boring side of the building.  I've been trying to talk the owner into a bit of a facelift for years, but he's not having it."  I made a mental note that she'd been here for years, which seemed like a good thing to me.  We got to a narrow staircase and she said, "One of the unfortunate downfalls to the property is this staircase.  It is a little narrow, and the banquet facilities are on the second floor.  We do have a service elevator that guests who might have a hard time with the stairs can use and I'll show you that on the way down."  With that, she started up the stairs.  Brody motioned for me to follow her, and he came after me.

When we got to the top of the stairs, I forgot about my disappointment over the front of the building. Smooth, worn wood floors stretched out in front of me throughout a medium sized banquet room.  The room had no decorations, save the simple wood and copper chandeliers that hung between the exposed rafters.  Decorations would have been lost in the room, and it certainly didn't need any.  The high, vaulted ceiling made the area feel much larger and more open than it actually was.  The two exterior walls were both made almost completely of 4-paned windows.  Where one of those walls met the interior wall that would be facing the front of the building, an elaborate, gigantic stone fireplace sat, cutting the corner on a perfect diagonal.   A large, sturdy barnboard mantle held a row tall, thick round candles.

I didn't even realize that Leigh was talking as I walked away from her and Brody and towards the wall of windows.  "Maybe you'd better wait on the spiel," Brody suggested to Leigh lightly, realizing I wasn't paying any attention to them.  I was too busy staring out at the mountains rising up around the restaurant.  I didn't notice Brody walk up behind me until he put his hands on my shoulders.  "What do you think?" he asked softly.

"I love it," I replied simply.  "It's perfect."  I peeled myself away from the windows and turned to take in the rest of the room.  "It looks a lot bigger than I was expecting for a 74 person capacity."

Hearing this, Leigh piped up, "Fire code capacity is actually 122, but that is with tables on the dance floor and seriously packing people in.  We try to cap events at 74 because that's what we found is most people we can put in the room while still making sure everyone has elbow room and you can actually walk between the tables when people are seated there."  I nodded.  That made sense.  "Can I walk you through?" she asked, when I returned my eyes to her.

She took us through the room, showing us the bar, the bathrooms, the area where they set up appetizers and cake, then telling us about different table configurations and mentioning some of the linen options.  "We don't allow outside catering, except for cake.  Should you choose to do something in addition to cake, we do customized dessert buffet options, or tableside dessert ordering.  We do have a list of 5 preferred DJs that we work with, and I can give you some suggestions on other services, such as photographers."  I felt like a bobblehead, nodding along with everything she said.

After giving us a couple more minutes to look around and ask a couple questions, she said, "Your tasting should be ready, if you'd like to have a seat."  She motioned to the only table currently set up in the room.  "I'm going to head down to my office so you can eat in peace, but the staff will let me know when you're finished, and I'll come back up.  If you're interested at that point, we can talk a little bit more specifically about what you'd like and costs."  We thanked her and sat down.  She disappeared through a door she'd mentioned went to the service elevator.

Brody looked at me and smiled.  "You look overwhelmed again," he said gently.

"No, not at all," I disagreed.  "I wasn't expecting to love it so much, that's all.  I mean, I kind of want to just live here, in this room."

"Well, after my bank account recovers from buying you a resort in Mexico, I'll see what I can do about buying you this restaurant," he joked.  I rolled my eyes and laughed.

Someone appeared with a tray full of appetizers and set them down in front of us.  He also brought water glasses and asked us if we wanted drinks.  Before I could open my mouth to say water was fine, Brody asked for two glasses of wine.  Why not?

We'd gone over the menu this week and picked appetizers, salads, entrees, and desserts to try the small sample portions of.  There was just one appetizer and one dessert that I wasn't a big fan of.  Brody liked everything except one of the salads.

"Well?" Brody asked, as our server cleared away our dessert plates.  I was pretty sure I wasn't going to be able to leave my seat and walk out of here, I'd eaten so much food.  "Do we want to do it?"

"I want to know what you think first," I replied.  "I don't want my answer to influence yours."

He smirked.  "I'm pretty sure I already know what you think, and I love it too.  We'll need to talk it all through with Leigh, but as long as she doesn't tell us that it costs $50,000 to rent the room and that the food is $600 a plate, I'd be good with putting a deposit down today."

"You don't want to look at anything else first?" I asked.

"We can if you want to," he replied, "But I don't think we'll find a place that's more perfect than this one."

I grinned.  "I don't want to.  Let's do it!"

"Let's do what?" Leigh asked, striding back into the room.  She had a folder and an iPad in her hands, and she looked curious as she sat down at the table with us.

"Let's get some more information about what it'll take to have a wedding here," Brody replied smoothly.

Leigh smiled.  "I take it you enjoyed the food?"

"It was excellent, thank you," I answered.  Brody nodded his agreement.

Leigh opened the folder and pulled out some papers.  She told us about the rental price, the food and beverage minimum, and our dinner options.  They did order ahead plated dinners and tableside ordering.  Tableside ordering was more expensive, but it allowed us to provide more options and we quickly agreed that with how many guests we'd have traveling, and on short notice, it would be nice to give people more options.  Leigh did some quick addition for food and beverage costs, the room rental, the additional fee they charged to have the ceremony there, and the other taxes and fees, and gave us an estimate.  The price would vary, of course, based on how many guests and what entrees they chose, but she'd estimated high to take that into account.  Brody didn't even bat an eye as he agreed.  I had to admit that the number was lower than I expected, which I imagine was due to the slightly off-the-beaten-path location.

Brody looked at me and raised his eyebrows in question.  I nodded without hesitating, and he turned back to Leigh, pulled out his checkbook, and wrote a check for the 10% deposit.  When he handed it over, it was official.  We were getting married on October third.